


A Trip In Time

by fanficlove



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Crossdressing, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-07 19:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13442238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanficlove/pseuds/fanficlove
Summary: What was supposed to be a straightforward mission to retrieve a Death Eater - who has escaped to the past via a Time Portal - turns complicated when a malfunctioning temporarily traps Harry in 1926 with no access to his magic. With no other choice, Harry lies low while slowly gathering data on his target, maintaining a certain distance between him and the magical society and avoiding changing the past. It would have worked too if it wasn't for one Newt Scamander. Keywords: Slash. HP/NS. Time Travel. Crossdressing. Fluff. Action.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a piece of fiction based on the Harry Potter franchise.
> 
> A/N: I am taking a lot of liberties with canon events, most particularly the timeline.
> 
> Spoiler Warnings: There are spoilers for the Harry Potter books and movies as well as the new Fantastic Beasts movie.

**Chapter 1**

* * *

**London, UK**

**Ministry of Magic**

**05 May 2021**

"No," says Harry. "Just no."

If there is one thing Harry has learnt, from the 30 years he has spent as a wizard, is that messing with time is and will always be a bad idea. Time, like Luck, is a fickle mistress. It is unpredictable, unstoppable and most importantly uncontrollable. Time moves in one direction; forward and anyone stupid enough to think otherwise will eventually pay the price.

Don't get Harry wrong; he too finds the idea of being able to go back in time and right past wrongs a very attractive concept. In theory, that is and only in theory. And no matter how attractive the concept is on paper, he knows enough from past experience to be conscious of the fact that by doing so, the consequences could be catastrophic. Why? You may ask. That is because it is nearly impossible to predict with accuracy what repercussions your actions may have on the rest of the timeline - no matter what some Seers will try to tell you. It is all too common that by trying to change the past, one would create a situation 100 times worst than the wrong one had been trying to correct; like the man who got permission to use a Time Turner to prevent his brother's Potion's accident. His appearance had startled his sibling so much that instead of accidentally putting in the ingredient that would cause a minor explosion and killing only the brewer, he put in another ingredient creating a much bigger explosion that killed not only the brother and the time traveler, but also nearly everyone in the vicinity. And if you think that is just an exception to the rule, you would be wrong. There is a reason why Time Turner usage has been carefully restricted by the Ministry.

Thus, that is why the moment the words "Time Portal" came out of the Head Unspeakable's mouth, Harry immediately interrupts with an emphatic refusal. They had just survived a bloody war, Harry is not about to damn everyone for the sake of scientific curiosity.

The Head Unspeakable - whose name is David, if Harry recalled correctly - frowns at him in a disapproving manner.

"I did not come here to ask for permission Chief Potter," he says and adjusts himself minutely on Harry's leather clad sofa before continuing, "This project has already received the Minister's approval. Nothing you would say could stop its progress."

Harry's eyes narrows at the arrogance and smugness in the other man's voice.

"Messing with time is just asking for trouble. Haven't you all learnt your lesson with the Time Turners?" he hisses, his fists clenched. He hates dealing with people who thinks they are right about everything just because a figure of authority supports their decision. Ministers can make mistakes too; Fudge was and still is the perfect example - thankfully. "You do know that, don't you? Humans are a long way from being able to control the consequences of meddling in the timeline. If you had any sense left in you, you would stop this project before it's too late."

"You Aurors are all so dramatic," David laughs, dismissing Harry's words with a flick of his hand, "You can't let fear stand in the way of progress, Chief Potter. Things will happen, whether you are on board or not."

Seeing that Harry still looks unconvinced, he continues, this time in a more conciliatory tone.

"I assure you, Chief Potter, that nothing bad will come out of it. We have planned for the finished product to be used only in a state of emergency and will never be made accessible to the general public. I am aware of the dangers of messing up the timeline, but I do believe that the potential risks will be worth this peace of mind. Besides, only those vetted by myself personally will have access to the Time Portal. And I am a very good judge of character. The reason why Time Turners caused such a ruckus was because the whole ordeal had not been properly managed. I won't make that mistake."

"And the Minister-"

"Is extremely happy about the advancements we have made in this field," David cuts him off, "He is our greatest champion. And don't try to talk him out of it; I'm sure you know how pig-headed he can get."

And isn't that the truth. Minister Sampson may be young for a Minister - nearly 40 and still with a head of black hair - but he can be extremely determined when it concerns things he is passionate about.

Harry sighs, suddenly feeling 100 years older. It is already bad enough that this is happening during his stint as Head Auror, but he can't even do anything to mitigate the situation. It had been a long time he had felt so powerless. Why can't anyone see the downside of this decision?

"This will end badly," Harry warns quietly, even though he knows anything he says at this point will be ignored. "You will regret it. I don't know when and I don't know why, but you will come to regret your decision. Time isn't something we mortals could ever hope to conquer."

"I am here to inform you that the Department of Mysteries will be commandeering a few of your Aurors for security purposes," David says, as if Harry hadn't spoken. He has probably given up on trying to carol Harry to his side. "I do hope you don't have a backlog of cases to go through because for the next few months, you will be understaffed."

Suddenly, Harry thinks of the million things waiting for him to get to and hates David just a little bit more.

"Well, I think we are done here," David smirks at him, stands up and leaves without another word.

"Moron," Harry mumbles to himself when David was finally gone, having made sure to slam the door behind him. Harry sighs again, passing a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "I really hope this doesn't blow up on our faces."

Unfortunately, Harry's life had never been so simple.

* * *

**London, UK**

**Ministry of Magic**

**13th November 2021**

_**A few month later** _

The meeting room - usually meticulously kept clean by a true army of House Elves - is a mess. Overturned tables, scattered ink pots and broken vases were just the beginning. If Harry had stumbled on to this scene without any context, he would have thought that a small battle had just taken place. For a room that only contained three people, this was an incredible feat.

_Bloody hell, what happened here?_

"It's not my fault!" Unspeakable David was yelling just as Harry pushes open the door. Harry watches in fascination as a petite young witch - her eyes burning with hatred and fear - conjured up some kind of fireball and threw it at the man in question. Even as he ducks out of the way, he cries "It's not my fault!" Dazedly, Harry watches the fireball hit the wall behind David and create a burn pattern on the luxurious tapestry that House Elves will have to mend.

"You could have chosen better interns!" Minister Lampson yells back, just as furious as the fireball throwing witch, his usually placid expression all but a thing of the past. He is standing a few feet away from David, his clothing mismatched and his hair a mess. Taking in to consideration how early this emergency meeting was called, he had probably been yanked out of bed like Harry had been. "Now look what happened! I never should have put you in charge of such an important project."

Suddenly, all sleepiness evaporated from Harry's spirit as a sense of dread and foreboding made his stomach clench.

_No, it couldn't be…_

"What's going on?" Harry asks almost breathlessly, grabbing the only unoccupied person by the arm. He glances at the man's youthful features and quickly associates them with a name. Samuel Jones, 25, Half-Blood, one of the Department of Mysteries newest recruits. He had met this man once before, at a luncheon a few month ago, organized by the Minister himself, to celebrate the progress made on the Time Portal project. "Unspeakable Samuel, isn't it? What's going on?"

"It's the Time Portal project, sir," Samuel explains quickly when he recognizes Harry. He suddenly stands taller as he speaks, his back ramrod straight; a natural reaction to Harry's presence. No one can achieve what Harry achieved without commanding some sort of respect. "One of our interns forgot to put up the security measures around the Lab when he went home. There was a breach of security."

"Not any breach!" Minister Lampson interrupts, having overheard their conversation. He pushes David away unceremoniously, causing the man to stumble a little backwards and comes stalking over, his eyes big and his breathing uneven. Frankly, he looks like a heroine addict suffering intense withdraw. Harry is admittedly a little intimidated.

He doesn't show it of course. It would be reputation-damaging if he had.

Behind him, David takes one look at Harry's serious expression and makes a small eeping sound like a startled animal and retreats within himself, looking as if he had just lost all fight.

"A confirmed Death Eater managed to sneak in and activate the Time Portal," Lampson finishes once he is close enough to Harry so he doesn't have to yell to be heard. "One of the last ones we have never managed to capture."

"Do we know which year he went back to?" Harry asks, resisting the urge to say "I told you so." Although, to be fair, the reality is a lot worst then the scenarios he had came up with.

"1926," Lampson spits out, "Sometime around May. Considering the Portal is still in development, targeting a specific day to go back to is currently impossible."

"1926," Harry repeats the year to himself, trying to find a connection between the figure and history. He doesn't have to look far considering how significant that date is to European Wizarding History. "Grindelwald,"

1926 was just before when the Darkest Wizard of all Times reached the height of his powers.

Harry shivers a little at the thought.

"Who went back?" he asks Lampson, but to his surprise, it is David who answers.

"Flint."

Harry blinks.

"Marcus Flint," he repeats incredulously, "Are you sure? Flint doesn't seem like the kind of person who could carry out such an elaborate plan."

"The Portal takes a record of the magical signature of all people who uses it," David explains, "We compared the one we got to Flint's, it was a match."

"You know how it is with magical signature," Lampson interrupts, "Impossible to fake and all that."

"Indeed," Harry agrees, thinking of DNA technology and fingerprints. "Alright, we know the when and we know the who. Is there a where we need to worry about as well?"

At that question, the small witch who had thrown the fireball earlier steps forward, and quickly introduces herself in a small yet powerful voice.

"Chief Potter, my name is Millicent Christie," she holds out a hand which Harry takes, "I'm one of the main researchers on this project. I can answer your question better then my colleague here."

She glares at David before continuing.

"Contrary to Time Turners, the Time Portal does allow its user to choose the place as well as the time. Although, choosing a place is a little more complicated then thinking of it as you activate the device. Due to restrictions posed by the Laws of Magic, the user can only go somewhere he has already been to or anyone related to him by blood has already been to."

"As soon as we found out who it was that went back," Samuel comes over, handing over a stack of parchemin to Harry, "We did some research on Flint's ancestry. Not much is known unfortunately, but we can say with relative confidence that the Flint bloodline has never crossed to the other side of the ocean."

"We did extensive research on Grindelwald as well," Samuel carries on when no one makes a move to speak, "We looked at past Ministry records, recorded victim testimonies and confessions from known Grindelwald followers. We luckily found quite a lot. We even went to Hogwarts to speak with Albus Dumbledore's portrait. Once we told him what we were up to, he had been all to eager to help."

"We managed to construct a timeline of Grindalwald's activities in 1926," David says and uses a handkerchief to dab at his sweaty forehead, "From the information the MACUSA has sent us, Grindelwald was in New York at that time, searching for an Obscurus."

"He failed of course," Samuel says, "Why he failed is a mystery unfortunately. The records from that time were mostly destroyed when MACUSA's archive was ravaged by a magical fire back in 1946."

"I am sad to say that Flint may possess a lot more information regarding this topic then we do," Lampson sighs, "The Flint family has always been ardent Grindelwald supporters. I won't be surprised if Grindelwald left them something when he got captured. The only thing we can do now is to go after Flint and hope that Lady Luck is on our side."

Harry nods.

"I think that solution is viable," Harry says, "Do you have a person in mind?"

Lampson suddenly looks nervous and Harry knows that he probably will not like the answer.

"We do," the Minister replies, "We want you to go."

"Me," Harry repeats blankly, "Minister, I don't want to be disrespectful but I really can't afford to go right now. Not only do I have a huge backlog of cases to go through, I don't have anyone to take my position if I am to absent myself for an extended amount of time."

"That you won't have to worry," David smiles a little, "We will give you what you need to return to this time once your mission is complete. You won't miss a day of work. Besides, there are complications that makes choosing anyone else difficult."

Harry's eyes narrowed.

"What complications?" he asks.

"The Portal requires a lot of magical energy to activate," David explains, "If it does not have an external power source, it will siphon the user's magic reserve. If the user's magic reserve is not vast enough to support the trip, they may die in the process. From our calculations, you are one of the only ones in this country with a magic reserve big enough to get to the other side safely."

Harry really doesn't want to know how they came by that information.

"What about Flint?" Harry asks instead. Flint may be strong physically, but he had never been gifted in magic. Surely, he didn't have a massive magical reserve.

"He used our last Energy Crystal to power the machine," David answers a little sheepishly. Harry resists the urge to throttle him. Who leaves the key next to the device it is designed to unlock? It's like leaving the key in the ignition of a car. It's just begging for thieves to come and take it. "Anyone after him will not have this luxury."

Of course not. That would be too easy.

"Luckily the crystal wasn't at full power when it was used so Flint should be weakened once he reaches the other side. This will give you some time to find him and catch up with him."

Harry remains silent, staring at the trio in front of him with an expressionless mask. So this was the true objective of today's meeting. Harry should have known it was more complicated then simply keeping him up to date on the newest developments. He feels a stab of anger at that. Even now, people were still making decisions behind his back. It's the Prophecy-debacle all over again.

"We don't want to pressure you but we really do not have an alternative in this situation," Lampson says, his tone soft and pleading. He sounds more then a little apologetic as he speaks. He steps forward and clasps Harry on the shoulder, his hand trembling slightly as he does so. He doesn't say he is sorry, but his body language is enough to calm Harry down. "If Flint is allowed to remain free, the consequences will be dire."

"Please Chief Potter," Christie, who has remained silent for some time, speaks up, "You are our only hope."

Samuel echoes her sentiment and looks at Harry with soulful brown eyes.

Harry sighs, knowing that refusing had never been an option to begin with. He wonders how Ron and Hermione will react to this new development. He wonders if he'll be allowed to even tell them what was going on before he is whisked away by a magical portal. Probably not. Not that telling them would be a good idea in the first place. If he doesn't come back, the Ministry would surely find a way to explain away his disappearance without having to use the words Magic Time Portal.

He snorts internally at the thought.

Magical time portal. A 5 years old Harry would have been over the moon for a change to experience something this life changing.

A 40 - nearly 41 - years old Harry however is too cynical to see the joy and wonder of time travel.

"Alright," he finally agrees, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "When do I leave?"

The trio visibly relaxes at that.

"As soon as possible of course," David says respectfully, and it is then Harry realizes how different different David's attitude is now versus a few month ago in Harry's office. It's like Harry is dealing with an entire new man. "Do you need to make any preparations?"

Harry shakes his head.

He has his wand and a pendant with appearance-altering capabilities he had gotten from the Black Vault - he keeps him on hand for infiltration missions. He also has his money pouch on him. He should be fine. Besides, he wasn't exactly going there blindfolded. The information package he had gotten on Grindelwald's actions was pretty useful. Although it was shorter then Harry would have liked, it contains enough clues for Harry to already have a preliminary battle plan in mind.

"Alright," David turns to Lampson, "Shall we bring him upstairs?"

"Let's go," Lampson agrees and leads the group out of the meeting room and towards the elevator.

As he walks, Harry tries to not feel as if he hasn't been told everything there was to know.

* * *

**TBC**

**Next Chapter: Welcome to 1926**

**Harry lands in London 1926 and makes a discovery that puts a big dent in his plans.**


	2. Chapter 2

 

**Chapter 2**

**Welcome to 1926 Part 1**

* * *

**London, UK**

**May 26th 1926**

For a portal that had cost the Ministry millions of Galleons to make - and Harry knows that because Lampson had shown him the expense reports a few months ago when the latter had came to tell him that the Auror department's budget would be cut so that more resources could be allocated to the Time Portal project - the landing mechanisms were definitely not well-thought out. Before allowing himself to be pushed through the activated portal, Harry had, in the deep recess of his mind, feared that the trip would be painful.

He had been right to worry...to an extent. The trip in itself was fine; it is the landing that was painful.

Harry lands in a deserted alley somewhere in London, his butt hitting the ground so hard he knows it is definitely going to leave a bruise. Luckily, a bruise in that area would be covered up by his clothing or else he would probably be attracting some unwanted attention from nosy passerbys.

"Oww, bloody hell," he curses loudly, the words a little muddled by the pain. Even though he knows he is physically fine except for his butt, it still takes him a few minutes to recompose himself and make any attempt to pushing himself up. And once he is standing - albeit a little shakily, Harry realizes that the pants he was wearing is thankfully unsoiled; the ground he had landed on almost miraculously clean of filth.  _Thank Merlin for small mercies._

He shakes his head to clear his thoughts and looks around. A cursory once over of his immediate surrounding told him that he is alone and thus safe to use any magic. The only other occupants of the alley is a trio of black cats, huddled together at the other end, their sharp gaze focused on Harry.

Harry smiles of them before taking out his wand.

"Tempus." he whispers softly and waits for the spell to take effect.

Nothing happens.

Harry blinks, confused. Had he said the words wrong?

"Tempus," he repeats once more but the wand remains stubbornly inactive. Harry taps the wand gently against his arm as Olivander had shown him all those years ago and doesn't see the familiar sparks it was supposed to produce.

That is definitely not good news.

Harry takes a deep fortifying breath and tries another spell.

"Lumos," he says.

The result remains the same.

Never one to give up easily, he tries for another 5 minutes. And when all his efforts turns out fruitless, he finally accepts the truth.

Somehow, he had lost access to his magic.

He closes his eyes and forces the ball of panic slowly making its way up his throat.

_Calm down Potter. Remember your training._

One of the first things they thought you at Auror Academy was to never panic in an emergency situation. Panicking was counterproductive; it served no other goal then to disorient you and cloud your thoughts.

_Alright. First, before I go further, I need to make sure my magic is still there._

Harry sits on the ground and starts to meditate - something Hermione had taught him to do. It was, she had explained, one of the best ways a wizard can use to gain access to their inner core.

It takes him a few minutes to find what he was looking for. And once he did, he lets out a small sigh of relief.

His magic is still there; weak and pathetic as it is, but still there; a small ball of light deep within himself, currently too weak to do anything other then floating there.

He suddenly remembers the Unspeakable's explanation about the portal siphoning the user's magic to run. Although he has no proof, Harry guessed that somewhere, the portal must have malfunctioned and siphoned too much, causing Harry to fall in to a state of magical exhaustion.

Harry can't help but grimace at the thought.

This new development is more then just a simple inconvenience. Without his magic, Harry is no match for Flint if they ever meet - no matter how good he was at fighting muggle style. All Flint had to do was get lucky with a stunning spell and Harry would be a sitting duck. That is something he does not want to see happen. Thus, for the time being, it is in Harry's benefit to keep a low profile and wait for his reserves to replenish themselves. Considering how Harry had never been in this sort of situation before, he has no idea how long it is going to take for his magic to come back.

Harry takes a deep breath and starts to plan.

Before he does anything else, he decides that his first priority is to change his appearance. He is in London after all and at a time when Henry Potter, Charlus' father, was still alive. If Harry could trust the portraits he has seen of the man, he knows that he had more then a passing resemblance with the older wizard. That means if any of Henry's acquaintances accidentally saw him, it may cause a ruckus or even begin rumors of the existence of a bastard child in the Potter line. If that happens, it would be the definition of bringing about events that might change the past.

Harry ruffles through his pockets for a few seconds before his hands close themselves around a familiar object.

He takes it out and puts it on, the pendant swinging a little with the movement of his body before resting still against his chest.

Closing his eyes, Harry starts to form a vision of the person he wants to become.

Luckily for Harry, the usage of the pendant is something he had plenty of occasions in the past to familiarize himself with. The pendant itself is magical so requires no external magic to activate. According to the introduction packet that Harry had found alongside the item, as long as the pendant can sense magic within you, you can use it. Thank Merlin for that little particularity because otherwise, Harry wouldn't have been able to disguise himself so effectively in his current state.

The pendant is in the form of a flower and looks like any other pendant you would find in any jewelry store. That doesn't matter considering how its value is not in the materials it is made from, but rather in what it can do. The pendant can give the user the ability to change his or her appearance at will. And after months of experimentation, Harry had came to the conclusion that the pendant's most useful feature is to allow the user to change sexes. Harry doesn't even have enough fingers or toes to count the number of times crossdressing has saved his butt. Not only do women get underestimated all the time, none of his targets seem to be able to wrap their mind around the possibility that Harry would no longer be in male form. Even if Harry's feamle impersonation is passable at best, no one seems to take a second glance.

In addition, once the pendant's power is activated, nothing short of destroying it can dispel its effects. Harry doesn't know how the Black family had found such an incredibly useful tool but he is eternally grateful that they did.

As soon as the vision forms in Harry's head, he feels his features stretch, his body contract before everything settles down once more.

He gets up from his seated position, moves his new limps around experimentally and once satisfied he isn't going to fall on his face, he dusts off his pants to recover a semblance of respectability. Unfortauntely, there is only so much he can do as his clothing did not change with his features.

He will have to find some appropriate outfit for this era.

Although women were starting to wear pants in public more often, ill fitting pants was still going to garner him some weird looks, especially considering his age. A young girl wearing saggy pants might be excused for youthful rebellion, but a woman well in to her thirties wearing saggy pants will be judged heavily. Normally, Harry didn't really care what others thought of his fashion choices, but if his goal was to fly under the radar, he really can't afford not to pay attention. He curses himself for not thinking of that earlier

_Nevermind that now. Next, I need…_

Harry looks up at the sky and does his best to estimate the current time. Probably early morning he guesses judging by the position of the sun and the lack of people in the street a few feet away. This means that he still has the entire day to find himself accommodations for tonight. He should also search for a pound shop to sell the few pieces of gold he had brought with him so that he has enough money to buy a ticket to New York.

According to history, Grindelwald is in New York around this time looking for an Obscurus. Harry doesn't have all the information he needs regarding who this Obscurus is but he he does have enough clues to point him in the right direction. Although he does not plan to confront Grindelwald - if he runs in to him by some luck - or Flint for that matter, but he should probably be nearby so that he can do the capturing as soon as his magic returns to him.

Harry sighs a little, hating feeling so powerless.

On the bright side, if Harry is lucky, Flint will also remain in a state of weakness for some time, giving Harry an opportunity to gather some intel.

With his plans made, Harry takes one last involuntary glance at the cats - who hadn't moved an inch since Harry had looked at them last, their weary gazes still firmly planted on the wizard - before exiting the alley.

No time to waste, he has a lot to do.

* * *

TBC

Next Chapter: Welcome to 1926 Part 2


End file.
